February 07, 2013

Hope you've been enjoying the ongoing behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew, as we continue to work on the mountain of post-production tasks. Hundreds of people have worked on the film by this point and everyone has a story to tell, across multiple countries and time zones. If you haven't yet, you should check them out.

Apologies for not posting updates more often. Hopefully you'll forgive us for focusing on finishing the film instead of writing for this blog. Still, we know you want to know what's up and will try to do more regular updates.

Since the last update, there's been a huge amount of post-production progress in a number of departments and some set-backs too. Nothing terminal, but unforeseen challenges have a way of voraciously eating up our hours. So goes life.

First, the good news.

Over the summer of 2012, a handful of fantastic, talented, upcoming illustrators joined the team to help flesh out the concept art for our visual effects, working with Visual Effects Producer Gordon Wittmann, Sr. Art Director Frank Cirocco, UI Consultant Chris Noessel and Director DJ Bad Vegan.

While the film was originally written to be relatively VFX-free, great ideas kept popping up (dammit) and we ended up with a film that needed a couple dozen different VFX concepts. Some are fairly complex, requiring 3D models, textures, lighting and everything you'd expect from a completely computer-generated character or object.

Normally, concept art for VFX is started -- if not completed -- before the film is shot. In our case, we didn't have that luxury (i.e. money and time). Getting our ultra-low budget DIY live action production off the ground was already mission impossible -- the VFX concept work had to wait until post-production.

So over the last six months, these tireless illustrators have been producing and revising (and revising again) some fantastic designs for a number of our most important VFX models.

Some of the most completed concept art for these models are below. No real spoilers are provided and we'll let the designs speak for themselves. We want to save the surprises and context for the film itself, so we'll let you be baffled about what these images have to do with a futuristic story about a debt-ridden beta-tester in a buggy virtual reality simulation of the "War on Terror."

Concept art by Sarah Stern

Concept art by Zachary Heinrichs

Concept art by Riley Chen

Next up for VFX: more concept art and creation of 3D models (which has already started). Illustrators, modelers, 3D animators and other VFX artists are encouraged to get in touch with us.

Now for some bad news.

Strangely enough, even though we're now about two years since the bulk of production was completed (both principal and most of our 2nd unit work), we do not have a rough cut, much less a fine cut, locked edit.

While there has been important progress over the past few months (including extensive color and visual treatment explorations with After Effects as well as the crucial detailed scene-by-scene, shot-by-shot change list for the editor), there have also been some major set-backs.

In short, our editing project file is fucked.

We're not quite sure why -- maybe it was the multiple drives we were using instead of a single consolidated drive for the media, or the duplicated naming scheme of our audio files, or the constant reconnecting of the media, or that Mercury was in retrograde (or all of the above) -- but our editing project file is now corrupt and just won't reconnect media properly.

Thankfully, this doesn't affect our underlying footage. All that is fine and safe. But the project file is where we organized it all and -- importantly -- have it edited together into our revised assembly edit.

Thanks to a clever workflow devised by our Post-Prod Supervisor (and amazing filmmaker in his own right) Vincent Cortez, we'll be able to launder the edited sequences and then recreate a new project file, cleansed of the offending corruption.

But this will take time and a lot of manual labor. We're using this as an opportunity to really clean up our act: organize the proxy footage onto one drive (for simplicity's sake) and rename all 1300+ audio files with their scene, shot, take and descriptions. Basically, our shit will be sorted out and we'll be ready to roll even stronger with editing after that.

Why didn't we do it right like that in the first place? Ultimately, we just didn't have a post-prod supervisor during production and we were moving too fast during the various production phases and 2nd units with different teams, so things got put in different places with different naming conventions.

For those of you filmmakers out there, learn from our mistakes and plan your post-production file management prior to production. Or feel the pain.

Regardless, we're moving forward on this plan (half of the 1,300 audio files are already reviewed and renamed -- we have to listen to each clip individually) and hope to be editing again in the spring, if not sooner.

Thanks for your patience and for the hard work of everyone on the team. Even if we haven't had much to say, rest assured, we're on the move.

February 22, 2012

Two days after the previous blog post, IWW director DJ Bad Vegan and his beautiful wife Jen welcomed their extraordinary baby boy, Ian, into the world. Since then (for the last nine months), the film has mostly been on hold while he has focused on all the post-production details of having a new baby in the house.

However, we will now be moving forward more aggressively on finishing the film. Hurray!

Since our last update, we've mostly focused on revising the rough edit and getting the pick-up footage that came in during the last stages of production slotted in.

Moving forward, the next major step is to take the first few minutes of the film all the way through scoring and visual treatment/coloring. This opening segment of the film will become our reference for the post-prod work we do on the rest of the film. In this way, once we have established the "look and feel" that we're creating via post-production techniques (editing pace and style, music, sound design, in-frame camera movement, coloring, visual treatment, etc), we can apply it to the rest of the movie as we create a final cut and into CGI visual FX.

Look for more stills and maybe even some footage from that process coming your way over the next few months.

Also, starting very soon, we'll be introducing some key IWW cast and crew right here on the blog. As we've said a million times, it takes a village to make a movie and we want to celebrate the tireless, dediected and highly-talented people who are making it happen.

Lastly, a huge, humble thanks to all our fans, friends, family, donors, cast and crew who are waiting patiently to see the film. We know it's been a long time since principal photoragraphy. It seems like forever. But this is a hugely ambitious project and we still have a long road ahead. Know that we're once again back in the saddle and moving forward with the same determination and vision that got this DIY sci-fi epic through 18 months of production across three countries.

May 13, 2011

If it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes a medium-sized regional metro area with outlying suburbs to make a feature film.

We're still early in the post-production process on In-World War and already our team is huge -- literally hundreds of cast, crew and other contributors have come together -- and will continue to grow as we add FX artists and animators, audio engineering and more during post-production.

Too often, films large and small are seen as the work of a single auteur. In fact it takes a team of artists, technicians, performers, professionals and others to make it happen. IWW has gotten this far because of their hard work, generosity and belief in what we're doing. They deserve the credit.

If you're wondering what kind of rebels, thrill-junkies and ne'er-do-wells it takes to get an ultra-low budget indie sci-fi feature film like In-World War (shot in three countries, in NYC and in numerous locations around the San Francisco Bay Area over a year and a half period), meet the people who made it happen:

April 20, 2011

Just a quick update to let you know what's been going on since our sneak peek at WonderCon.

I've been doing assembly edits of the scenes we shot during the pick-ups and 2nd units. We shot a ton of additional footage during this period -- not so much because the film is bad (a common reason for multiple pick-ups) but because it's such an ambitious project and we just didn't have time to get everything we wanted during principal photography.

Anyway, I'm working my way through the new scenes and then going to go through the entire revised assembly tightening it up and adding the remaining inserts we picked up. It will be a long process, but very much a fine-tooth-comb approach. Soon after that, I'll toss it back to the editor and she'll refine the edit, add the music and we'll have a rough cut (at last).

Here are a quick sampling of the pick-up scenes recently assembly edited:

April 05, 2011

Many thanks to everyone who came out to see the first rough trailer at WonderCon. We gave a first sneak peek at the work-in-progress trailer, including many scenes through-out the film.

The trailer was shown as part of the "What's Next in Indie Sci-Fi" panel organized and moderated by IWW writer/director DJ Bad Vegan. We had a bigger crowd than last year and were proud to be premiering footage with the other great indie sci-fi filmmakers who participated including Henry Barrial (Pig), Vincent Cortez (Roamer), Kip Rassumsen (95ers:ECHOES) and SF in SF coordinator Rina Weisman.

February 22, 2011

Happy -- no make that ecstatic -- that all our long days of major pick-ups for In-World War are done at last!

Thank you to the hundreds of people who helped make this milestone possible, starting with production 18+ months ago, through all the 2nd unit world across the world along the way and ending with some kick-ass footage in Oakland at the end of January.

What's next? Editing. We need to get a rough cut done, fit in some music, do some minor pick-ups (inserts mostly -- no real scenework is needed at this point thankfully). More about the editing later. Suffice to say, it's another major milestone ahead.

But once in a while it's important to just enjoy the view from the top of the latest hill.

We couldn't have gotten here without the support and love from so many friends, family, cast and crew. You're all part of the In-World War family. Thank you, deeply and sincerely.

Here are some behind-the-scenes photos from our shoot in New York City and our last day of major pick-ups in Oakland. Thanks to the amazing people at the Oakland Int'l Airport and the Oakland Film Office, we were able to shoot inside an actual 727 cargo plane -- check out the pic below.

P.S. If you're an indie filmmaker you may be interested in the six-part series on indie film distribution and marketing that I wrote up after Sundance this year. It's on my DIY Filmmaking Sucks blog. The first article appears this week and a new one is published every Monday for five more weeks. Check it out.

November 30, 2010

The weekend before Thanksgiving we shot at the Hilton Garden Inn in Emeryville, in the lobby of a city building in downtown Oakland and in Oakland's Chinatown. It was a small 2nd unit crew (a nice change from the chaotic swarm of principal photography) and a big shout-out to everyone who helped out, including 2nd unit DP Jamie Metzger, sound mixer Fred Runner, AC Marianna Ellina and our PAs Crystal and Myles, plus all the cast. The footage looks great.

This weekend we're going back to Livermore to shoot inserts at the house we're using as Mary's parents place. Simeon, who plays Mary, is flying up for the shoot (thanks to a Southwest cheap seat). Plus we're also shooting a scene for the party sequence that we weren't able to get during principal (one of the featured actors was under 21 and the club wouldn't let her in). Between those two locations and a number of city street exterior pick-up shots, we've got a pretty long day.

After that, we have one more day of random pick-ups including one intense scene on an airplane (which we unfortunately had to cut from principal photog due to time constraints at the last minute). Beyond that, there are a number of inserts we'll have to grab (mostly establishing shots). For the locations outside of the Bay Area, we'll have to find local DPs to shoot for us (anyone in Hong Kong or Shanghai with a good HD camera?).

Once we're done with this weekend and the next pick-up day (the one with the airplane scene), we'll be able to finally get to work on a rough cut.

Making a feature film isn't a mad dash, it's a marathon of marathons. And that's true even before we account for the next major phase after editing: VFX.

Incidentally, if you want to help out as a PA this weekend, please get in touch: brant @ studiolomismo dot com.

October 14, 2010

On Sunday, we completed an insane three days of shooting in NYC (with one day of prep after a red eye flight). Amazingly, we got all the scenes we needed, including scenes on Canal St. (chaos, honking cars, a flood of tourists, vendors and more), at a fantastic mosque, in a Turkish restaurant and at a warehouse in Williamsburg -- just a block away from where a Jonah Hill film was being shot. We stole a shot against an exterior wall that was lit by their powerful lights (it was a night shoot). Thank you Hollywood!

A big thanks goes to Ben Rubin, our local producer for this 2nd unit shoot. He's just started Columbia's MFA program for film producers and he proved he's got what it takes. Ben: you kick ass.

Also, special mention should go to Dane Brehm, our 2nd unit DP for NYC. He helped get us the camera and lenses for the shoot and brought together the core crew. He's also our post-producer for the whole film and is really helping us keep moving forward.

Couldn't have done it without either of these guys, plus the local crew that came together for the project, most of them with no previous experience on our film.

Thanks also go to Simeon and Premstar, two of our actors that came all the way from LA to NYC for the shoot. They reprised roles that we shot over a year ago and turned in fantastic performances.

Lastly, a big thanks to everyone else who contributed from the local actors to the people at the various locations who opened their spaces for us to shoot.

According to Dane, we shot about 270 minutes of footage -- that's an average of 90 minutes of footage a day, which is simply insane. Great work all around.

Next stop: the last of the major pick-ups here in the San Francisco Bay Area (probably shooting in December) and then a rough cut. Then a fine cut.

After that, it's all about the FX.

Then audio and coloring...and then we're ready to start submitting to festivals.

September 08, 2010

Hard to believe we're roughly a month away from shooting our pick-ups in NYC and already the pace is moving fast.

That's (hopefully) good news for the shoot. The more prep we do, the smoother it should all run and the better the footage will be. After all, pre-production is the secret to successful production. And at this point, the NYC pre-pro is pretty much taking up all the oxygen in the IWW universe. Everything else is on stand-still as we get ready for this and tee it all up.

So here's a big shout-out to Ben Rubin, our 2nd unit producer there in NYC, who is leading the charge, working his ass off, plus the others who are giving of their time and energy to make it happen, including our talented and long-suffering actors who are flying out from coast-to-coast (thanks to free tickets via reward miles).

Nothing says "New York City" like New York City -- so hopefully it should look great on the screen. It's pretty exciting to see this all happen.

We're trying to shoot all the exteriors that are set in NYC (to replace the faux NYC footage we shot in downtown Oakland), plus there's one new small scene we're adding to help bridge the relationship between Mary and Tix.

If you're in NYC and able to help in some way, please feel free to get in touch. Or if you just want to donate (tax-deductible!) to support the cause and get your name in the credits, we can assure you that there will never be better time. So please, donate now.

August 24, 2010

Just a quick update on IWW. There's a lot going on and as usual we're juggling multiple balls in the air. It may seem at times that nothing much is going on because we don't have time to update the blog, but that's far from the truth. We try to keep you posted, but with so much going on, it's not always easy.

Every week we're moving forward on multiple fronts. This film is a huge undertaking, with many moving parts and a tsunami of tasks, so it gets spread out over time (a year has passed since production already?!?). Rest assured, things are happening.

Here's a glimpse into what's going on right now.

Pick-ups - We're reviewing the revised assembly cut and building the list of pick-ups needed and scenes to be reshot. Luckily, the number of scenes needing reshooting is very minimal (maybe two full scenes), so most of our additional shooting will be b-roll, insert shots and establishing shots -- all to flesh out the storytelling.

NYC 2nd unit - This is the focus of much of our time right now. We're cashing in some frequent flyer miles to get tickets to NYC to shoot on location there. There are a number of key NYC scenes, in addition to needed b-roll and getting this right is crucial. Luckily, we have a talented local producer, Ben Rubin (besides being a former student of mine, he's entering Columbia's MFA program for film producers), plus some old friends who are helping out in one way or another. If you're in NYC and want to help somehow, let us know.

VFX Producer - The amazing and talented Gordon Wittmann has joined the team as our VFX Producer. Besides being a great friend, he's one of the most experienced visual effects producers in the Bay Area, having worked at ILM, The Orphanage and is currently at Spy Post. His IMDB listing includes some of the most high-profile FX films in the industry: Iron Man, Star Wars II, Terminator 3, Grindhouse/Planet Terror, Van Helsing and many more. He'll systemize our VFX process as we grow the team and start to knock out concepts, ultimately moving us through production on the effects. With about a hundred FX shots in IWW, this is a crucial role and it's been my dream since day one to work with Gordon.

Additional pick-up weekends - At this point, our additional shooting is a weekend thing and looking at our preliminary list of pick-ups, it could be between 4 and 6 weekends (including the long weekend in NYC). More on this as we move forward.

Plus, footage is being processed from the recent b-roll shoots and as always, we're trying to reach out to people to grow our team. It's a never-ending process, making a film like this, but we have no choice. It's in the blood and failure is not an option. Onward.

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About the film

In-World War, a smart and offbeat indie sci-fi feature, tells the futuristic story of a debt-ridden and depressed beta tester trapped in a buggy virtual reality simulation of the "war on terror".

This site chronicles the making of the film, which is written and directed by DJ Bad Vegan, who (under a completely different name -- perhaps his own) also produced the award-winning narrative feature Quality of Life.

He also provides low-budget DIY filmmaking tips, tricks and indie distribution insights at his site DIYsucks.com and is the Galactic Overlord of the new indie sci-fi website Homemade Sci-Fi.